I thought reorganizing would be easy, but

I’m sorry ( to those who actually read the blog), that I’m not keeping up. I have my majors coming up and I can’t think other more than equations for capacitor and improper integrals.
God help me….
Again… sorry.
On Saturday I’ll continue, because I’d be finished at that time! Also I’ll write a post about the Comic Con in Dubai, that I can’t even go to. (oh god… why?!)
That’ll be fun. Yeah.

News of the Week: Games

Games:
Release Dates
Capcom Trailers
Cancelled Titles
The American System
Valve News

First I have to say that I’m sorry for missing Thursday’s post and the podcast yesterday. College reasons. Midterms and all that.
Now onto the news:
BIGGEST NEW RELATED TO THE TOPIC OF THE WEEK:
Mikel Reparaz has left GamesRadar for PlayStation: the Official Magazine. Yup, what little hope left in GR even slightly returning to normal is gone. Yes I’m pessimistic, let me be.

Games:-

Release Dates

PS3
Persona 3: FES was released last Wednesday on PSN under PS2 Classics for $10. It’s not a remastered relates, but I recommend it for everybody, even those who aren’t into JRPGs. The version is an updated version of the original Persona 3, with more quests and features.
It’s ten bucks for fucks sake. Buy it.

The Legend of Dragoon is going to be released on PSN on May 1 under PS1 classics.

Xbox 360
Bethesda will re-release Quake 4 on June 19.

Fez, the anticipated Indie game, is now on XBLA for $10. The reviews are good so far.

The Witcher 2 is finally coming to Xbox!! This Tuesday will be fucking amazing. Reviews say the game is epic.

15 minute gameplay demo for The Witcher 2 on the 360

Consoles
GTA V is rumored to be released this October. I want to believe this do much. But Rockstar loves the spring release. What helps this rumor is the feature in Max Payne 3, where you can import your “gangs” into GTA V’s multiplayer. I don’t think they would advertise this feature if it’s both games are a year apart.

Sleeping Dogs, previously True Crime: Hong Kong, has a confirmed release date of August 17.

PlayStation Vita
Mortal Kombat Vita will be released on May 1. The reboot was amazing. The only thing that was working for it was the 2-player combat more so than its single player component. So I don’t know if I’m going to buy the Vita version. If you play MK by yourself (the women help a lot in this case. Wink wink), or play online then you should consider buying this on your new shiny Vita!

iOS
Max Payne was released on is released on iOS. That move was due to the popularity of GTA III on the same platform.
I’m still sad that GTA III wasn’t ported to the 360.

Capcom Trailers

Capcom has released three trailers for three of their major franchises. Resident Evil 6, Devil May Cry, and the announcement trailer for Lost Planet 3.

Resident Evil
NEW RELEASE DATE IS OCTOBER 2ND

DmC

Lost Planet 3
LP3 is being developed by Spark Unlimited. Developers of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, and Legendary. Yeeeeahhhh skiiiip.

Cancelled Titles

1- Epic announced that they cancelled Gears of War: Exile, the spin-off title from the popular franchise designed for the Kinect. The reason for this is they wanted to focus the resources for the new IP they’re developing.
I don’t know if I should be sad that they cancelled a probable good game for Kinect, or be happy that they are focusing on better things. Ah well, that’s life I guess.
2- The sequel for the amazing underrated and undersold Bulletstorm had been cancelled because (surprise!) there weren’t enough sales.
Thanks gaming community.

The American System/strong>

1- California Judges have forced GameStop to tell customers about the extra additional costs that come with used games. AKA, online passes.
This is obviously because of GS practices of forcing, sorry.. “encouraging”, costumers to buy used games. Combine that with companies forcing, sorry (again).. “encourage to help developers”with the online passes pissed off enough people to warrant government action.
Thanks Capitalism!

Valve News

1- Apple CEO Tim Cook has visited Valve Headquarters this week.
WHY WAS HE THERE?!
NEW CONSOLE?!
JUST A FRIENDLY VISIT?!
AHHH THE SUSPENSE
2- A Valve job requisition has strengthened the rumors of a Valve Console.
Details.

For Your Beautiful Eyes: FAP

This is kind of cheating since it was featured yesterday, and explained what it is.
But fuck this, I’m tired. I need sleep. Enjoy.
FAP is short for Full Access Preview, it’s a video made by the GR staff either making fun of a game or enjoying it.

FAPs

Top 5… Best Things that GamesRadar Had

5- Week of HATE

Don’t you just hate the fucking fanboys and their stupid debates on which piece of plastic is better than the other? Or how some jackasses who notice and complain about every single minor detail in the game?
What about the corporate side of the industry? Don’t you just want to punch a PR representative repeatedly in the face for misleading DLC?
But you’re a professional. You don’t want to look like an amateur journalist who ruins his/her image just by a few words. You also want to be taken seriously and be respected in the industry.
But GR had an awesome solution for all that. For three year (’08-’10), they had a week where they would spill their hatred of fanboys and industry ploys.
Check all the articles here:
2008: (did not find the link to it)
2009
2010

4- B. Buttercup (Senior Wildlife Editor)

Ever felt that horses were under-appreciated in the gaming industry? That they are just slaves to the whims of games characters to to do their fetch quests and dragon slaying?
GR had the same questions, and hired B. Buttercup to write articles exclusively horse related. His writing is so fascinating you instantly forget your first question about him (how does he write for GR? Simple: BIGASS keyboard).
A few of his articles:
Top 7.. Sexy Horse Every Stud Should Ride
Red Dead Redemption Promotes the Subjucation of Horses
His Twitter

3- FAPs

Short for Full Access Preview (not that fap you thought of initially, eh?). They are videos of the cast playing recent games (the time a FAP is released [heh, ejaculation joke]). These FAPs are almost 15-20 minutes long and they include hilarious commentary by the cast, either making fun of the game or genuinely enjoying it.

Shadows of the Damned FAP

Portal 2 FAP

Dead Space 2 FAP

Worst Wii Fighting Games FAP

MORE FAPS

2- TalkRadar

What happens to game journalists after their work is done? They go home and be boring.
Not the GR cast. They may be exhausted and tired and hate your guts, but their humor and sense of fun is still intact. Two hours every week, recently three, they talk about games and their lives in general. They always go off the rail, but they do it in a fun way and make you feel that you’re part of the conversation.
While some podcasts are more informative, the GR staff make feel that you belong in the conversation. Rape jokes and intoxicated cast included.

TalkRadar on GR
TalkRadar on iTunes

1- The Cast

What more can be said about the cast? They are amazing writers, great journalists, and hilarious comedians. Their cast pictures were amusing and showed personality. Some left to pursue other interests, and some got laid off. My memories of them is still intact, and I hope one day I get to meet them face to face.
And yes, Mikel’s glorious beard.

such majestic facial hair

Chris Antista left GR for PC Gamer (DIGITAL!), and formed a nostalgia-filled podcast called LaserTime. Help him by donating and/or buying shirts from the shirt store!
Tyler Wilde left to PC Gamer as well, but didn’t make a big deal out of it.
Charlie Barratt left to @Gamer.
The only Remaining members of the old crew is Mikel Reparaz, and Henry Gilbert and the UK crew.

left to right: Charlie Barratt, Mikel Reparaz, Lizze Cuevas, Chris Antista, Tyler Wilde

A Trip Down GR’s Memory Lane

QUICK! What’re all these thing have in common?

– Rage induced articles that release annually during a week of hate.

– Shark articles ,and a possible shark game of the year for a Spanish editor.

– A Horse columnist named B. Buttercup.

No, not that it all happened in my head (big possibility, however). The one thing they have in common is that they all originated from an amazing website, that will always have a place in my heart, GamesRadar (often known as GR). Quick history lesson before I cut to the chase of this article: once upon a magical time (2007), a magazine proclaiming itself to be PlayStation the Official Magazine was bought. I was flipping through pages of this typical “official” magazine, reading (and wincing at it like a fellow on twitter whose rather weird twitter name, HenereyG, was kind of amusing) previews and laughing at the review scores like any hormone fueled teenager.

But there it was.. a two page ad showing a LOLcat with a weird logo that just states (gr.) with lighting bolts surrounding it.

I immediately checked out the website. It appeared like any other gaming related website. Until one fateful night on November ’06 I noticed an article (a top 7 as GR faithfuls should know), again just like a hormone fueled teenager, titled Top 7 Girl on Girl Kisses. (http://www.gamesradar.com/the-top-7-girl-on-girl-kisses/) The content (AKA kisses) was pretty dull for a seemingly interesting topic. The writing and humor of this article was what grabbed me by surprise. I got immediately hooked by this strange website that promised me hot kisses but didn’t deliver.

IGN was (notice the past tense) my main source of news for me on the net, but that wasn’t what GR prided on. Their features were the main thing that distinguished them from the rest of the typical gaming websites. I will talk more about what I loved about it tomorrow (if you’re interested that is, and didn’t vomit from the disgusting pile of shit that is my writing yet) in The Top 5 (something): Things that I loved about GamesRadar article.

Fast forward five years later, after the wonderful features and reviews that I used to (here we go again with the past tense) trust GR solely on, and the amazing podcast TalkRadar, the site began to spiral down with Brett [Elston] leaving and ended with the “hiatus” of TalkRadar. With the cast either moved on to better things, like Tyler [Wilde] and Chris [Antista] leaving to PC Gamer (DIGITAL!) and Brett to Capcom, or laid off, Cheryl [del Rosario] and Carolyn and [Michael] Grimm and [Matt] Keast, the site lost its edge with the podcast being the last thing to hold onto (I didn’t really care for the forums much, it was sad though how it was just shut down for no reason). GamesRadar is not your lovable grandpa on his dying breaths waiting for someone to turn off his life support. It’s a rapid dog that used to be your best friend and part of your family for so long you just don’t want to put it out of its misery.

I still browse GR every once in a while, enjoying the UK part of the site and also the surprise guest articles (thanks Chris for the Colonial Marines video), and the old cast that is still there, Mikel [Reparez] and Henry [Gilbert]. No, I didn’t forget Charlie [Barratt] .. he left GR on Friday. If you’re a person who is confused of all the names and weird references, I urge you to check GamesRadar and browse the amazing articles that spanned five years and a half. Just don’t be as depressed as us old fans when you reach the end of the journey.

This Week’s Topic: GamesRadar

In this week I will write about one of the major influences on my gaming life, the amazing GamesRadar.
Mon: A Trip Down GR’s Lane.
Tue: The Top 5.. Amazing Things That GamesRadar Had.
Wed: The FAP.
Thu: Future Publishing, or How I Stopped Reading and Hate the Execs.
Fri: Podcast and QotW.
Sat: Major News of the Week and What We Command You to Notice.
Sun: Stolen Feature: The Top 7.

Reconstruction of KFUPM Geeks

Yup, I’m (yes it’s a solo effort no thanks to Mazen and Ahmed) reorganizing this site to make this site look consistent and actually be interesting. No, I’m keeping the ugly look (I like it), I’m just adding new features and putting old ones in order.
The new format will be me (alone yet again) choosing an appropriate topic for the week. Hopefully it’ll be interesting to all of you. If not… well, tough luck.
MONDAY: Remembah!
This feature is a tribute to things I loved either old or recent. I’ll probably drag on and sound like an old man, despite being 20, about the things I adore.
The reason for the name is a reference to a scene in a movie I love so dearly, The Lion King. When the ghost of Mufasa appeared to remind Simba of his rightful liony (lionisc? Lionic?) duties as king.


TUESDAY: Top 5 (something).
This is an obvious one. The topic of this feature will differ every week depending on my halucinat.. I mean thoughts.
WEDNESDAY: For Your Beautiful Eye (and Maybe Ears).
This feature will be about a video, or maybe awesome or hilariously awful movie trailers, that interested me in the past or recently and want to share with you. Also maybe some audio as well.
THURSDAY: But Theriouthly…
In this article I am researching in an interesting or controversial topic to me. It’s probably interesting to you as well.
It’s a play on “seriously” but with added nerd sounds.
Get it? Cause it’s supposed to be serious and the irony is….
Ah fuck, I am truly bad at this.

shut up
FRIDAY (Friday, gonna get down.. ok I’ll stop): The Podcast and Question of the Week.
It’s a podcast. We talk about geek culture. It’s awesome.
Question of the Week will be a weekly question (duh) on the week’s that I hope enough readers will answer.
SATURDAY: Top News of the Week / What We Command You to Notice.
The first feature is the most interesting things that happened in the Movie or game industry and others as well.
The second one is a list of games/movies/comics/music albums/books that I thought of during this week that I hope you’d like.
SUNDAY: This Week’s Stolen Feature.
This is a feature where I find an interesting article on the interwebz and hope that nobody notices I stole it from them. The original writers will be credited.

So there you go, folks. Hope you had and awesome train thought (or melt if you flow that way). Please please please come by this site. I promise awesome content!
(maybe)
GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY

GameInformer Shooter and RPG Flowchart

Have you ever played a shooter or an RPG and thought, “hmmmmm… this looks familiar”?
Well I – or rather GI – have found the answer in this nifty Flowchart!
(yes I am such an asshole for stealing shit from other websites. Get over it)